Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will release the funding for football stadia in Northern Ireland on a sub-regional basis in advance of the re-establishment of a Northern Ireland Executive; and whether the amount of funding will be increased to reflect inflationary pressures since the funding was announced in 2011.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Sports policy is a devolved matter, and the allocation of funding for stadia is a matter for the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.It remains the UK Government’s firm view that the right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.

Casement Park: Regeneration

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they are expecting to contribute to the redevelopment of Casement Park; and when the building work is due to be completed.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The joint UK / Republic of Ireland bid to host EURO 2028 was submitted to UEFA on 12 April 2023. The bid proposes 10 stadia, with the inclusion of Casement Park in Belfast enabling Northern Ireland to be a prospective host for the tournament, so that local communities can benefit from the considerable socio-economic benefits of hosting an event of this scale.There has been a long-standing commitment in Northern Ireland, as part of the regional stadium development programme, to redevelop Casement Park – alongside the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park and Kingspan Stadium, which have already undergone improvements. Given the inclusion of Casement Park in the bid, HM Government is working closely with partners in Northern Ireland to ensure that the redevelopment is adequately funded, is delivered in good time, and complies sufficiently with UEFA’s technical requirements.

Department for Education

Children: Unemployment

Baroness Redfern: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have sufficient data on children over the age of 16 who are not in education or vocational trainingto enable targeted help to bemade available to these so-called 'ghost children'.

Baroness Barran: Since 2010, the department has put in place a range of policies that have significantly reduced the quantity of young people designated as not in education, employment and training (NEET).​Whilst the government provides the framework to increase participation and reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET, responsibility and accountability for delivery lies with local authorities, who have a statutory duty to identify and support all young people who are NEET.Statutory guidance directs local authorities to collect information on all young people in their area, including whether they are NEET or have characteristics that put them at risk of becoming NEET, so that local authorities and their delivery service partners can effectively target and support those young people.The department monitors NEET data and liaises with local authorities regarding their statutory duties to identify and support 16 and 17-year-olds. The department also publishes annual data from local authorities, including NEET comparative scorecards, that supports local authorities and their delivery services to monitor their own performance and benchmark it against that of others to promote improvements. The NEET comparative scorecards include information on local populations according to the Office of the National Statistics that can help local authorities evaluate whether young people are missing from their data and take further action. The NEET comparative scorecards are published at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/young-people-neet-comparative-data-scorecard.The department also works with local authorities to support the better use of data tools to identify those at an increased risk of becoming NEET, based on characteristics such as having a learning difficulty or disability, or a record of poor school attendance, so they can be monitored and targeted with extra support to help them stay in education.NEET young people are separate to children missing education, the latter being defined as compulsory school-aged children who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school. From autumn 2022, local authorities have been asked to voluntarily provide aggregate information to the department on children missing education. This information is being analysed, and we expect this data will help to significantly improve our understanding of the national level picture.

Children in Care: Education and Health

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that living more than 20 miles from home has on (1) the mental health and wellbeing, and (2) educational outcomes, of children in the care system in England.

Baroness Barran: Local authorities have a statutory duty set out in Section 22(3) of the Children’s Act 1989 to make sure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care.The department recognises that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care to live in. The way that local authorities currently plan for, commission and provide homes for children is at times not sufficient. This can result in some children living far from where they consider home and can have a negative impact on their wellbeing and outcomes. We want to reduce out of area placements, but sometimes circumstances mean it is the right decision for a child to be placed outside their home authority.Information on placements, distance from the home placement and the location of the placement can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2022.In response to the urgent calls from the Competition and Markets Authority and the Care Review to transform the way care is provided to children, the government is working to drive forward improvements at a national, regional and local level to increase sufficiency and improve standards of care and regulations.By 2027, we will see an increase in the availability of high-quality, stable and loving homes for every child in care local to where they are from. To achieve this, the department is supporting local authorities to increase care placements and ensure they meet children’s needs, with £259 million of capital funding for secure and open children’s homes. We will also review legislation, regulations and standards of care to ensure the needs of all children in care are met.We are also investing £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. Through operating on a larger scale and developing specialist capabilities, the RCCs will be able to develop a wide range of places to better meet children’s needs. This, in turn, should lead to improved placement stability and fewer out of area placements.

Educational Institutions: Strikes

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to provide additional support to educational institutions to prevent strikes in pay dispute in summer 2023.

Baroness Barran: The government and the education trade unions took part in a period of intensive talks between 17 March and 23 March, when an in-principle offer of a 4.5% pay award for 2023/24 was made by the government, alongside a range of non-pay offers, and a one-off payment of £1,000 for this year.It is disappointing that the education trade unions have rejected this offer, and that the National Education Union (NEU) has since organised two strike days in April and May, and has said three more will happen in June or July. Decisions on teachers‘ pay for next year will be made following the independent pay review process. The department has published guidance, which sets out its expectations of school leaders and governing bodies to minimise disruption to the education of children and young people and, where disruption is unavoidable, ensure the impact is minimised. The guidance includes:Taking all reasonable steps to keep the school open for as many pupils as possible.Adopting flexible staffing models and merging classes where necessary to maximise on site attendance.Only restricting attendance when they have no other option, and where they do so prioritising vulnerable children and young people, children of critical workers, and pupils due to sit public exams and other formal assessments. The department has seen that most schools, over 90% across the different strike days, have managed to stay open for pupils, either fully or prioritising attendance, with the latest strike day on 2 May seeing the lowest rate of full-school closures in any of the strike dates at 4.9%, meaning 95% of our schools were open.The NEU and National Association of Head Teachers have confirmed that they would re-ballot members for further strike action from 15 May. The Association of School and College Leaders and the Teachers’ Union, NASUWT, have indicated they will also re-ballot members. This is disappointing, as any further strike action will only cause further disruption for students and parents.

Department for Education: Civil Servants

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask His Majesty's Government who in theDepartment for Education is responsible for ensuring that senior civil servants in the Department comply with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, as embodied in the Civil Service Code; and what stepsthey have taken to monitor and ensure compliance with the provision in the past two years.

Baroness Barran: The department’s Leadership Team is responsible for setting standards within the department. Individual line managers are responsible for ensuring that staff are adhering to the Civil Service Code on a day-to-day basis.Information about the Civil Service Code is shared regularly with employees, including in employee contracts and induction material. Clear processes are in place to enable anyone to report a breach of the Code. In the latest staff survey, 100% of Senior Civil Servants confirmed they are aware of and understand the Code.

Teachers: Workplace Pensions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what total contribution they have made each year to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether any government contribution is made to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme explicitly in respect of members of the scheme who are not employed in state schools; and if so, how much is contributed each year.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the reasons why private schools are permitted to participate as employers in the Teacher’s Pension Scheme.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted any analysis of the actuarial advantages to ending the arrangements by which private schools are permitted to participate as employers in the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Baroness Barran: For the 2021/22 financial year, the government contributed over £1.6 billion to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. For the 2020/21 financial year, the Government contributed over £1.7 billion.The government does not make any explicit contribution on behalf of any sector but does contribute to the overall cost of pension payments where these exceed the total contributions received in any year.Independent schools are allowed to participate in the scheme, on a voluntary basis, to help facilitate the movement of staff between the state and private sectors. This benefits all sectors by enhancing opportunities for sharing best practice.The government has not undertaken any such analysis of the potential advantages of ending arrangements by which private schools are permitted to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Oak National Academy

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government how much taxpayers’ money has been spent on Oak National Academy; and whether any assessments have been made of the value for money delivered to taxpayers.

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government what is theirpolicy in relation to competing with the educational publishing sector in the provision of curriculum content; and whether they plan for the Oak National Academy to be sold or broken up in the near future.

Baroness Barran: The Government has allocated up to £43 million for the Oak National Academy over the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years. This figure relates specifically to direct funding to Oak as an Arm’s Length Body. This figure does not include grant funding in previous years to the Reach Foundation, which incubated Oak. A significant proportion of Oak’s funding will go to schools, publishers and other organisations for the creation of resources.Value for money was an important factor in the appraisal of options in the creation of Oak as an Arm’s Length Body, and in the design of Oak’s lean operating model, as set out in the published full business case, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-business-case.Oak will provide value for money, benefitting schools and pupils by tackling teacher workload, improving curriculum expertise and increasing standards of education.The Department knows that teachers in the UK benefit from a diverse commercial market of educational resources. Oak aims to complement and stimulate this market, not to displace it. In a recent survey, none of Oak’s surveyed users said they were using Oak resources exclusively. Oak will provide teachers with access to high quality, evidence based resources that are free, optional and adaptable. This will give teachers more choice in deciding what’s right for their pupils, thereby stimulating teacher demand for high quality digital resources.There is no plan for Oak to be sold or broken up.

Home Office

Counter-terrorism: Public Places

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a (1) registration, or (2) other oversight, scheme for companies providing security services, in association with the introduction of the Protect Duty.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Volume 1 of the report of the Manchester Arena Inquiry recommended that “consideration should be given to whether contractors who carry out security services should be required to be licensed” (Recommendation 8). The Government has given careful consideration to this and is not persuaded that licensing businesses in this way would deliver improvements in public safety that would be proportionate to the significant increases in regulatory burdens that this would entail. Instead, the Government has asked the Security Industry Authority, which regulates the private security industry, to consider how its voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme can help to further drive quality standards in security provision. Separately, the National Counter Terrorism Office (NaCTSO) are looking to develop a voluntary Competent Person scheme. The Competent Person Scheme will involve a Competent Person in the Workplace qualification and the Counter Terrorism Security Specialist Register. This register will recognise existing skills and qualifications within the sector, whilst also providing reassurances to businesses that a counter terrorism specialist has the necessary skills to appropriately advise on risk and suitable mitigation measures.

HOPE not hate

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of Hope Not Hateand any association that group may have with far-left extremist groups.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Government is committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and that radicalise others into terrorism.We do assess all evidence of those that radicalise others though their support for or justification of violence and will not tolerate those who spread divisive and harmful narratives. This relates to all ideologies, including those that fall under the LASI (Left-Wing, Anarchist & Single Issue) banner. We continue to work with law enforcement agencies and multi-agency partners to increase our understanding of new and emerging threats to society.The Home Office avoids publicly commenting on whether or not specific groups or individuals are of extremist concern, as this could have a detrimental effect on our ability to take future action against them.

HOPE not hate

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government whetherany representatives from Government departments have met with Hope Not Hate; if so, on what dates; and what was the content and outcome of their discussions.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Representatives from the Home Office have met with members of Hope Not Hate on a small number of occasions in the past year, as part of engagement with wider partners on asylum and migration and responding to protest activity.The Home Office is free to decide who and which organisations it meets with as long as the organisation in question does not act unlawfully. Decisions on individual meetings are taken on a case-by-case basis.

Refugees: Sudan

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they are making to welcome those Sudanese refugees fleeing violence who want to come to the UK.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: There are no plans to create a country specific scheme for refugees fleeing Sudan.The UK continues to welcome refugees through existing resettlement schemes which are global in scope, including the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and the Family Reunion Scheme.Under these schemes, the UNHCR will refer refugees for resettlement after undertaking an assessment of people’s needs and vulnerabilities. The UK does not seek to influence which cases are referred by the UNHCR under these schemes.The UK has provided sanctuary to almost 500,000 individuals since 2015. However, our resources are futile and we cannot provide resettlement to everyone.

Children: Detainees

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government, following a section 35 report being issued for a child and detention still being maintained for 28 days under the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill, whether the child will be able to Judicial Review the decision.

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Illegal Migration Bill providing that individuals who are declared inadmissible are not able to secure bail until a 28-day period has elapsed, how they plan to operate Short Term Holding Units in the event that the Bill becomes an Act.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The purpose of rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 is to ensure that people in detention who are particularly vulnerable are brought to the attention of those with direct responsibility for authorising, maintaining and reviewing detention. Rule 35 is a reporting mechanism, and where a report is completed, it does not automatically mean that the person should be released.The Bill creates new detention powers which will allow the Home Secretary to detain a person pending a decision as to whether the new duty to remove applies, and thereafter to detain pending their removal.For the first 28 days of detention, those who are detained under the new detention powers within the Illegal Migration Bill will be prevented from challenging their detention during this period by way of judicial review. An individual will be able to apply to the Home Secretary for bail during this period, although that decision may not be challenged by way of judicial review during the first 28 days. An individual may make an application to the High Court for a writ of habeas corpus (or the equivalent in Scotland) to seek release at any time.Where people are detained for the purpose of removal, they will usually be detained in Immigration Removal Centres. Short-term Holding Facilities are usually used to detain individuals on arrival to the UK, for the purpose of initial examination, which would include an assessment of whether the new duty to remove applies.

Children: Detainees

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government when a child is under the care and accommodation of the Home Office, due to the Home Secretary’s duty to detain and remove under clause 2 of the Illegal Migration Bill, what international or domestic legislation the Home Office is required to meet.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The duty to make arrangements for the removal of an illegal migrant who meets the conditions in clause 2 of the Illegal Migration Bill does not apply to unaccompanied children, although clause 3(2) of the Bill confers a power to remove them in the circumstances set out in clause 3(3).Clause 15 of the Bill further provides the Home Office with the power to provide or arrange accommodation and support for unaccompanied children. This power relates to non-detained accommodation.The intention is to only provide accommodation and support to these children on a temporary basis before being transferred to a local authority.We expect local authorities to continue to meet their statutory obligations to children from the date of arrival and for the Home Office to only step in sparingly and temporarily. The best place for these young people is and will remain within a local authority care placement.The Home Office is not currently in the position of corporate parent to any unaccompanied child. There is nothing in the Bill which changes this position and it will continue to be for the local authority where an unaccompanied child is located to consider its duties under the Children Act 1989.Detention powers in the Bill, including in relation to children, are set out in clause 10.

Department for Business and Trade

Question

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any instances where companies are raising consumer prices above the rate of inflation in order to increase their profits.

The Earl of Minto: The Competition and Markets Authority monitors firms suspected of profiteering to challenge unjustifiable price increases and takes enforcement action where there is evidence that competition or consumer protection law has been broken. The Government continues to monitor the operation of consumer markets and keeps all options under review to ensure good value and service for consumers.

Post Boxes

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure thatpost boxes remain within anappropriately close distance to all homes so that universal provision of the service is maintained.

The Earl of Minto: Ofcom’s regulatory framework requires Royal Mail to ensure that, for the UK as a whole, the premises of not less than 95% of users of postal services are within 5 kilometres of an access point (such as a post box, a Post Office or a Customer Service Point within a Delivery Office) and, in all postcode areas, the premises of 95% of users of postal services are within 10 kilometres of such an access point.In its 2022 review of postal regulations, which included a public consultation, Ofcom decided to maintain this regulation as it considered that it remained appropriate to ensure widespread access to the universal postal service.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Community Housing: Cooperatives

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what support theyare providing for the building of more housing co-operatives.

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing forthe creation of more community land trusts to build more social housing.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector, of which housing co-operatives and community land trusts are an important part, offers significant untapped potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it can help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and helping sustain local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community can enable the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not necessarily be brought forward through mainstream development.Since the most recent round of the Community Housing Fund (CHF) closed in March 2022, the Government has been considering what support it may provide to the community-led housing sector and a decision will be made in due course. In London, the Greater London Authority continues to deliver a programme to support for community-led housing using a grant of £38 million awarded to it from the CHF by this department in 2018/19.   For certain tenures of affordable housing, community-based groups - or their partner organisations - registered as providers of social housing may apply for capital grant through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Medical Treatments

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of pressure on primary care services and thechallengesof out of hours, weekend and holiday access provision, how immunocompromised people can access anti-virals to mitigate COVID-19 infection once GPs are responsible for dispensing these; and what assurances they can provide that a system will be in place to ensure there are no difficulties in accessing treatments by the end of June when the Covid Medicines Delivery Units are disbanded.

Lord Markham: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published final guidance on COVID-19 treatments on 29 March 2023, a copy of which is attached, in line with their statutory responsibilities. Integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have 90 days from this date to make funding available and to implement the treatment recommendations. NHS England has asked ICBs to maintain access to COVID-19 treatments through COVID-19 Medicines Delivery Units (CMDUs), or equivalent local arrangements, during the NICE 90-day implementation period.ICBs are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from CMDUs to routine care pathways by the end of June. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances.During the 90-day implementation period, NHS England is working closely with ICBs to ensure that new routine services continue to provide timely access to assessment and treatment for COVID-19 infection. In addition, NHS England is engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where any further national support is required to facilitate the transition and providing national communications to patients, healthcare professionals and local system leaders to ensure clarity on upcoming changes.Attachment (pdf, 5468.3KB)

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on immunocompromised people arising from (1) shutting down the Anti-Viral task force, (2) ending any stakeholder engagement through the Enhanced Protection Programme, (3) withdrawing vaccine boosters for the families of the immunocompromised, (4) ending the collection of data on Covid infections via the Office for National Statistics, and (5) ending access to anti-virals through the Covid Medicines Delivery Units and transferring this to GPs; and what steps theyare taking to enhance the protection of the clinically vulnerable community from COVID-19.

Lord Markham: Those that remain at higher risk from COVID-19 remain a priority for the Government and continue to be offered enhanced protections such as treatments, booster vaccines, free lateral flow tests and public health advice.Functions of the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce (ATTF) have now moved to different parts of the Department and the National Health Service. The NHS will continue to deliver treatment for COVID-19 patients and will operate in line with evidence-based recommendations from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, following the established processes in this area.Following the closure of the enhanced protection programme stakeholder forum, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recognises the importance of continuing to engage with patient charities and other stakeholders, and further information on continuing stakeholder engagement will be shared in due course.On 27 January 2023 the Government accepted Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) interim advice that there could be a further booster programme in autumn 2023 for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 in preparation for winter 2023 to 2024. JCVI will continue its rolling review of the vaccination programme and will provide further advice on which groups including carers and family members of immunosuppressed individuals should be included in the autumn 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme in due course.The approach to COVID-19 surveillance is being actively reviewed to ensure it is proportionate, cost effective and considered alongside how we monitor a range of other infectious diseases that present a similar threat.The UKHSA will continue to publish regular reports on COVID-19 which will contribute to our situational awareness. These include our weekly surveillance reports, which provide data on infection rates and hospitalisation numbers. We also maintain the ability to track the latest variants through our genomics capabilities which assess the risks posed by different strains of the virus.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from covid medicines delivery unit to routine care pathways by the end of June. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances, including for immunocompromised patients.NHS England is working closely with local health systems, supporting ICBs to develop service delivery plans which ensure continued timely access to assessment and treatment that meet the needs of their local populations. To support the transition away from pandemic-specific arrangements NHS England is regularly engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where national and local action may be required to ensure transition readiness.NHS England is providing national communications to patients, healthcare professionals and local system leaders to ensure clarity on upcoming changes.Highest risk patients will continue to have access to free tests, however the way patients will access tests may change later this year.

Cancer Drugs Fund

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with patient groups on the updates to the NICE health technology evaluations manual, and in particular (1) treatments at the end of a Cancer Drugs Fund access agreement no longer being assessed against the criteria supporting their original recommendation, and (2) the replacement of the end of life criteria with a severity modifier.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with patient groups, including on blood cancer, to allow continued access to treatments at the end of a Cancer Drugs Fund access agreement that meet the original end of life criteria but not the new severity modifier criteria following updates to the NICE health technology evaluations manual.

Lord Markham: The Department has had no discussions and has made no current plans. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses and engaged with a wide range of stakeholders during the development of its updated manual for health technology evaluations, including on the severity modifier. Patient groups were directly involved in the methods review in the working group, task and finish groups and in two public consultations. Additionally, NICE engaged separately with industry and patient groups on the impact of the changes to it methods and processes for medicines currently in the Cancer Drugs Fund.NICE also works closely with patient groups and other stakeholders in the development of its guidance on individual technologies. In 2022/23, 89% of NICE’s final recommendations on cancer drugs were positive, including all of the cancer medicines appraised using NICE’s updated methods and processes. No cancer medicines have completed their exit from the CDF using NICE’s updated methods and processes. However, NICE has released positive final draft guidance for the first, which treats a blood cancer.If NICE determines at the end of a managed access period that a technology is not a good use of National Health Service resources, then people already having treatment may continue until they and their NHS clinician consider it appropriate to stop.

Integrated Care Boards: Pay

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, furthertothe Written Answer byLord Markham on 27 April(HL7236),for the pay of each of the three integrated care board chief executives of (1) Humber Coast and Vale, (2) South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw, and (3) Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, whether their previous salary was taken into account by NHS England in accordance with the sign-off process by Ministers; and if so, whether that information was passed on to the department.

Lord Markham: NHS England considered the existing salary of candidates when agreeing the salaries of the chief executives of integrated care boards. This information was also contained in the business cases considered by Ministers when their approval was required.

Innovative Medicines Fund

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment NHS England and NICE have made of the likely number of products that will be eligible for entry into the Innovative Medicines Fund in (1) 2023–24, and (2) 2024–25.

Lord Markham: Medicines are recommended for the Innovative Medicines Fund through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisal process in line with the published principles. Medicines are eligible for the Innovative Medicines Fund only if they have been unable to be recommended for routine commissioning in the National Health Service and further evidence collected during a period of managed access will sufficiently support the case for such a recommendation in the future. Therefore, no assessment has been made on the number of products that may enter the Fund in future.NICE and NHS England continue to track the pipeline of new medicines for possible candidates and proactively work with industry to ensure the identified medicines can be made available to patients, through routine funding or the Innovative Medicines Fund.

NHS Trusts: Standards

Baroness Wheeler: To ask His Majesty's Government how NHS England and integrated care boards will hold trusts to account on performance in specialised services in line with latest service specifications.

Lord Markham: NHS England, together with integrated care boards when a specialised service is commissioned jointly in 2023/24, is responsible for assessing compliance with service specifications. Actions resulting from non-compliance will vary depending on the reasons for and nature of non-compliance, as well as the location and availability of alternative service provision.

Health Services

Baroness Wheeler: To ask His Majesty's Government whenthey will publish their timeline for the update of service specifications in specialised services.

Lord Markham: NHS England will confirm, by the end of June 2023, the list of national service specifications where work to review the specification has commenced and will be progressing in 2023/24.

Health Services: Integrated Care Boards

Baroness Wheeler: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are putting in place to ensure that unwarranted variation in access to specialised services does not increase due to the delegation of some of these services to the integrated care board level.

Lord Markham: NHS England remains the accountable commissioner for all prescribed specialised services, including for those services where commissioning responsibility may be delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). For any services where commissioning responsibility is delegated to ICBs, NHS England will continue to set national standards, service specifications and clinical access policies which ICBs will be expected to apply. NHS England, alongside ICBs, will continue to seek to understand and address unwarranted variation in access to and outcomes from specialised services, making use of all available data sources.

Health Services: Integrated Care Boards

Baroness Wheeler: To ask His Majesty's Government how learnings from the two integrated care boards (ICBs) in South London that have taken on full commissioning responsibility for specialised services deemed suitable and ready will be applied to other ICBs ahead of full delegation from 2024–25.

Lord Markham: Integrated care boards (ICBs) have not yet taken on full delegated commissioning responsibilities in any part of the country. In April 2023, nine joint committees between NHS England and ICBs were established and were given joint commissioning responsibilities for 59 specialised services. This is part of a transitional year during which NHS England and ICBs are jointly taking decisions about the design and delivery of services that are in scope. As part of the 2023/24 transitional year arrangements, the two South London ICBs and NHS England London regional team have established a pathfinder programme. Learnings from the programme are shared with all other regions and national specialised commissioning leaders so that they can learn in real time as they develop their joint working arrangements ahead of delegation.

Gender Identity Development Service: Suicide

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 24 April (HL7271),how many individuals who were patients at the Tavistock Clinic died by suicide in (1) 2021, and (2) 2022.

Lord Markham: The information requested is not held centrally.